Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-03-10
miscellaneous
The Useful Thimble.
CURIOUS THINGS ABOUT IT THAT ARE
NOT GENERALLY KNOWN.

There is rich family of the name of
Lofting in England" said dealer in
fancy articles. 1.-The fortune OF whose house
was founded by such an apparently in
significant little thing as the thimble.
Two hundred years ago thlmbles were up-
known in England. The thimble is
claimed by the Dutch as an Invention OF
that country, but it is known now that 1t
was in use by silk embroiderers of China
hundreds of years before il was used else
where The first thimble ever seen In
England was made in London less than
two hundred years ago by metal worker
named John Letting, the founder of the
family named. The usefulness of the
article commended it at once to all who
used the needle. and Lofting acquired a
large fortune and great fame in the manu-
tacture of the new accessory to the needle
workers art The implement was then
called the thumb-bell. it being worn on
the thumb when in use. This clumsy
mode of utilizing it was soon changed,
however, but when and why the name
thimble was given the article does not ap
pear. Lettings thimbles, and, in fact.
all thimbles were made either OF iron or
brass. and specimens of them extant.
many of which are preserved as heir
looms, are crude and clumsy-looking
things compared with the commonest
himble of today, although their cost was
many times as much.
Today gold, silver, iron, ivory. steel
sometimes glass. and even pearl and
celluloid are utilized in making thimbles.
Since art NJ edle work became the fashion
able craze in this country, thlmbles OF
most elaborate workmanship and great
value. to accompany the rich and costly
implements and materials wealthy needle
workers affect, have found large sale.
Solid cold thimbles, elegantly carved,
and frequently set with diamonds. have
been found none too good for many of our
fashionable home decorators. Thimbles
to be made to order, with the monogram
or initials of the person tor whom
they are intended set in preciou,
stones. are not by any means I'M
known objets d'art, in the fashioning OF
which the skill of our artistic metal-work
ers is taxed. know a rich young lady of
this town, whose enthusiasts N for art needle
work was so great year ago, that moth
ing but gold and diamond-set thimble
that cost one hundred dollars. with other
embroiderng implements to match, would
enable her to reproduce those fearful and
wonderful buttercnps, daisies and blue
bells that one sees blooming in such prod
igal profusion on foot stools, banners, It'd
les and bureau covers in all homes of cul-
ture and refinement.
'In China the ladies of high class are
very dainty of their thimbles. Some are
carved from enormous pearls, with bands
of fire gold, on which are engraved all
sorts of fantastic things, the etchings OF
which serve for catching the needle as the
holes of the outside barbarian thimbles do,
The thimble always has mother of-pear
case With the thmble the Chinese lady
always has a delicate pair of scissors of
finest steel. in sheath of pearl, and a
pearl needle case. The articles are all en-
closed in an eXquisitely inaid case of the
purest mother-of- A New York
lady. whose husband was in the China
trade. has one of these Chinese needle
work kits so to speak, which she values
at $4,000.
THE way thimbles are made in this
country and England is simple enough.
Dies of the different sizes are used, into
which the metal, whether gold, silver or
steel, is pressed The hole punching, fin
ishing and polishing or temparing are
done afterward Celluloid is nodded The
best thmbIes are made in France, where
the process is more thorough. Strange rs
it may seem, the French consider durabil-
| itv in their gold thimbles as the first re
quisite. The first step in the making of a
Paris gold thimble is the cutting into a
disk of the desired size thin piece OF
sheet iron. This is heated to red heat,
placed over a graduated hole in an
iron bench, and hammered down in
to it with "A punch. This hole is
the form of the thimbe. The iron thus
formed is removed from the hole, the lit
tie indentations to keep the needle from
from slipping are made in it, and all the
other finishing strokes of the thimble's
| torn put on it. The iron is then made
into steel by process peculiar to the
French thimble maker, tempered, polished
and brought to deep blue color thin
sheet of gold is then pressed into the in
terror of the thimble and fastened there
! by n mandril. Gold leaf is attached to
the outside by great pressure, the edges
of the leaf being fitted IN and held by
! Siiitil SIbtscs at luc DtSt Vi the IilimDi6
The article is then ready for use. The
| gold will last for wears. The steel never
wears out. and the gold can be readily re
placed at any time. Nowhere else in the
world are gold thmbles made in this
way.
Il have heard of many curious thin
bles. The Queen of Siam has one which
was present from her royal husband
| The thimble had never been in use IN Sian
until a few years ago, when the King no.
ticing English and American ladies visit
ing his court using thimbles, had one made
for his Queen. 1t is made of gold in the
form of lotus bud, the lotus being the
royal flower. and is tbickly stubbed witt
diamonds so arranged as to form her name
and the date of her marriage. This pre-
sentation was equal to an order that the
ladies of Siam should use thimbles, anC
they have used them ever since. A lady
in Boston has thimble made from {
piece of wood taken from the old Wash
ington elm at Cambridge. the tree under
which Washington stood when he tool
the oath as Commander-in-C Chief in 1775
The wife of we'll known clergyman of 8
neighboring city has thimble carvec
from peculiar stone she found on the
shore of the Dead Sea. A lady in this